Second Class Justice: Arbitrary as ever I & II

“Only 10% of counties in the country have imposed a death sentence in the last six years“

“An examination of imposition of the death penalty between 2004-2009 reveals that imposition of the death penalty remains as arbitrary as ever. Being sentenced to death is still like being struck by lightning – or perhaps being hit by a tornado. For there is a “death belt” just as there is a tornado belt. Just 10 percent of the counties in the countryaccount for all death sentences imposed during that period. About five percent of counties are responsible for the death sentences imposed in 2007-09.”

“85% of Counties Have Not Sentenced to Death A Single Person Who Has Been Executed Since 1976.”

“A database of every execution since 1976 (paper here), compiled by Frank Baumgartner, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, demonstrates that even among the handful of counties in the United States with active death penalties, few counties have sentenced anyone to death who has been executed. 85% of the counties in the United States have not executed anyone since 1976. Only 454 counties (14 percent) have ever carried out an execution since 1976. Indeed, only 50 counties (1.6 percent of the total) have executed more than 5 individuals in the entire modern period of capital punishment, a rate that works out to just one per seven years. Five counties are responsible for a disproportionate majority of executions. Four of these five counties are in Texas:”